I’m in Seattle again for a convention coming up this weekend, but I flew in a few days early to spend time with my friend Dani while I’m in town. One of the things we decided to do was get a guided tour of the Smith Tower in Pioneer Square.

Unfortunately, our timing was unlucky and the tower was closed for a private event shortly after our guided tour, so we didn’t have an opportunity to spend additional time after our tour walking around the exhibits. (They invited us for complementary general admission for a self-guided tour to finish exploring the tower on a later date to make up for it, though.)

Here are some photos I took during our tour:

On the observation floor, there was a chair that is said by legends to cause young, single women who sit in it to soon find and marry their future husband. Dani insisted I sit in it so she could take a picture of me.

Here are some photos of Seattle from the wrap-around observation balcony:

Before we left, we used the photo station on the observation floor to take a few souvenir pictures. As usual, I am ecstatic to be there, as you can tell.

I enjoyed our guided tour. Dani and I were the only ones who attended for that time slot, so we got a very personalized experience.

Dani loves the architecture of the building, so our tour guide focused on the history of the construction of the Smith Tower, the unique elements and components of its construction, and its various structural improvements implemented throughout the years. He also took us to areas outside of where the museum signs were pointing, so I suspect that we might have gotten access to some exclusive areas that are not usually shown to regular visitors.

With my background in law enforcement and interest in criminology, our tour guide also focused on the crimes that used to take place in the offices of Smith Tower and their impact in current wiretapping technology. I’ve always found the concept of double agents, re-doubled agents, and triple agents to be very interesting, and I found those aspects of the crimes to be particularly intriguing. I was also impressed at the ciphers used to transmit information over radio signals disguised as nightly bedtime stories.

On top of the topics being aligned with our interests, I think we also rolled a good tour guide who excelled at storytelling, as he was able to relay all that information in a compelling and captivating manner.